Chemical CdS Thin-Film Deposition Influenced by External Electric and Magnetic Fields

Cadmium sulfide polycrystalline thin films were grown on glass substrates by the chemical-bath deposition technique (CBD) under application of both a pulsating direct electric and a dc magnetic field acting on the Cd- and S-ions during growth in an aqueous solution which contains CdCl₂ and thiourea as source material for the cadmium and sulfur components, respectively. The field orientation in each case of deposition was chosen perpendicular as well as parallel to the growing CdS-film interface. Two different values of the magnetic field strength were applied. Various properties of the films were studied, such as optical transmission and reflection, surface morphology, X-ray diffraction, and dark electrical resistivity, as a function of the applied field configurations, which reveal a clear effect of the field presence during growth.     

Automatic Identification of Myeloperoxidase Natural Inhibitors in Plant Extracts

The aim of this study is the development of an automated method for myeloperoxidase activity evaluation and its application in testing the inhibitory action of different plant extracts on the activity of the enzyme. This enzyme has its concentration increased in inflammatory and infectious processes, so it is a possible target to limit these processes. Therefore, an automatic sequential in-jection analysis (SIA) system was optimized and demonstrated that it is possible to obtain results with satisfactory accuracy and precision. With the developed method, plant extracts were studied, as promising candidates for MPO inhibition. In the group of selected plant extracts, IC50 values from 0.029 ± 0.002 mg/mL to 35.4 ± 3.5 mg/mL were obtained. Arbutus unedo L. proved to be the most inhibitory extract for MPO based on its phenolic compound content. The coupling of an automatic SIA method to MPO inhibition assays is a good alternative to other conventional methods, due to its simplicity and speed. This work also supports the pharmacological use of these species that inhibit MPO, and exhibit activity that may be related to the treatment of infection and inflammation.     

Analysis of Accelerometer and GPS Data for Cattle Behaviour Identification and Anomalous Events Detection

In this paper, a method to classify behavioural patterns of cattle on farms is presented. Animals were equipped with low-cost 3-D accelerometers and GPS sensors, embedded in a commercial device attached to the neck. Accelerometer signals were sampled at 10 Hz, and data from each axis was independently processed to extract 108 features in the time and frequency domains. A total of 238 activity patterns, corresponding to four different classes (grazing, ruminating, laying and steady standing), with duration ranging from few seconds to several minutes, were recorded on video and matched to accelerometer raw data to train a random forest machine learning classifier. GPS location was sampled every 5 min, to reduce battery consumption, and analysed via the k-medoids unsupervised machine learning algorithm to track location and spatial scatter of herds. Results indicate good accuracy for classification from accelerometer records, with best accuracy (0.93) for grazing. The complementary application of both methods to monitor activities of interest, such as sustainable pasture consumption in small and mid-size farms, and to detect anomalous events is also explored. Results encourage replicating the experiment in other farms, to consolidate the proposed strategy.     

The Pharmaceutical Industry in 2021. An Analysis of FDA Drug Approvals from the Perspective of Molecules

Similar to last year, 2021 will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic. Although five vaccines have been approved by the two most important drug regulatory agencies, namely the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the pandemic has still not been brought under control. However, despite the context of a global pandemic, 2021 has been an excellent year with respect to drug approvals by the FDA. In 2021, 50 drugs have been authorized, making it the fourth-best year after 2018 (59 drugs) and 1996 and 2020 (53 each). Regarding biologics, 2021 has been the third-best year to date, with 14 approvals, and it has also witnessed the authorization of 36 small molecules. Of note, nine peptides, eight monoclonal antibodies, two antibody-drug conjugates, and two oligonucleotides have been approved this year. From them, five of the molecules are pegylated and three of them highly pegylated. The presence of nitrogen aromatic heterocycles and/or fluorine atoms are once again predominant among the so-called small molecules. This report analyzes the 50 new drugs approved in 2021 from a chemical perspective, as it did for those authorized in the previous five years. On the basis of chemical structure alone, the drugs that received approval in 2021 are classified as the following: biologics (antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, enzymes, and pegylated proteins); TIDES (peptide and oligonucleotides); combined drugs; natural products; nitrogen aromatic heterocycles; fluorine-containing molecules; and other small molecules.     

Preservative Effect on Canned Mackerel (Scomber colias) Lipids by Addition of Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) Cooking Liquor in the Packaging Medium

The preservative properties of waste liquor obtained from octopus (Octopus vulgaris) cooking were investigated. Three different concentrations (high, medium, and low) of octopus cooking liquor (OCL) were included, respectively, in the aqueous packaging medium employed for mackerel (Scomber colias) canning. As a result, the canning process led to an increase (p < 0.05) of lipid content, lipid oxidation (development of fluorescent compounds and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS), lipid hydrolysis (formation of free fatty acids, FFA) and ω3/ω6 ratio in fish muscle. In all canned samples, primary (peroxides) and secondary (TBARS) levels of lipid oxidation were low. Remarkably, the presence in the packaging medium of the high and medium OCL concentrations led to lower (p < 0.05) lipid oxidation development (fluorescent compound and TBARS detection, respectively). Furthermore, an increasing OCL presence led to an average decrease of peroxide and FFA content and to an average increase of the polyene index (PI). All OCL-packaged muscle showed lower average values of saturated fatty acids and ω3/ω6 ratio and higher average values of PI and monounsaturated fatty acid presence. This study provides a first approach to novel and beneficial use of the present marine waste to inhibit lipid damage of commercial canned fish.     

Proposal to Test a Transient Deviation from Quantum Mechanics’ Predictions for Bell’s Experiment

Quantum mechanics predicts correlations between measurements performed in distant regions of a spatially spread entangled state to be higher than allowed by intuitive concepts of Locality and Realism. These high correlations forbid the use of nonlinear operators of evolution (which would be desirable for several reasons), for they may allow faster-than-light signaling. As a way out of this situation, it has been hypothesized that the high quantum correlations develop only after a time longer than L/c has elapsed (where L is the spread of the entangled state and c is the velocity of light). In shorter times, correlations compatible with Locality and Realism would be observed instead. A simple hidden variables model following this hypothesis is described. It is based on a modified Wheeler–Feynman theory of radiation. This hypothesis has not been disproved by any of the experiments performed to date. A test achievable with accessible means is proposed and described. It involves a pulsed source of entangled states and stroboscopic record of particle detection during the pulses. Data recorded in similar but incomplete optical experiments are analyzed, and found consistent with the proposed model. However, it is not claimed, in any sense, that the hypothesis has been validated. On the contrary, it is stressed that a complete, specific test is absolutely needed.     

In Vivo Anticancer Activity of AZD3965: A Systematic Review

Proliferating cancer cells have high energy demands, which is mainly obtained through glycolysis. The transmembrane trafficking of lactate, a major metabolite produced by glycolytic cancer cells, relies on monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). MCT1 optimally imports lactate, although it can work bidirectionally, and its activity has been linked to cancer aggressiveness and poor outcomes. AZD3965, a specific MCT1 inhibitor, was tested both in vitro and in vivo, with encouraging results; a phase I clinical trial has already been undertaken. Thus, analysis of the experimental evidence using AZD3965 in different cancer types could give valuable information for its clinical use. This systematic review aimed to assess the in vivo anticancer activity of AZD3965 either alone (monotherapy) or with other interventions (combination therapy). Study search was performed in nine different databases using the keywords “AZD3965 in vivo” as search terms. The results show that AZD3965 successfully decreased tumor growth and promoted intracellular lactate accumulation, which confirmed its effectiveness, especially in combined therapy. These results support the setup of clinical trials, but other important findings, namely AZD3965 enhanced activity when given in combination with other therapies, or MCT4-induced treatment resistance, should be further considered in the clinical trial design to improve therapy response.